American companies are cutting jobs as layoffs increase

is amazon Latest company to announce job cuts Since American workers are facing difficult times in the job market.

Amid widespread economic uncertainty, some analysts said businesses are at a “no hire, no fire” impasse. This has forced many companies to limit new hires to only a few specific roles, if not to stop vacancies altogether.

At the same time, some massive retrenchment have piled up, increasing the concerns of workers in all sectors.

Some companies have pointed to rising operating costs due to President Donald Trump’s new tariffs and changes in consumer spending. Others cite corporate restructuring more broadly – ​​or, as seen with big names AmazonFunds are being redirected to investments like artificial intelligence.

In such cases, “it’s not so much taking AI directly jobsBut AI’s hunger for cash could take jobs, said Jason Schloetzer, a professor of business administration at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business Administration.

He pointed to the broader “trade” in companies today, from employment to infrastructure investment.

Federal employees have faced an additional dose of uncertainty, which has hurt worker sentiment in the job market overall. Shortly after Trump returned to office at the beginning of the year, federal jobs were cut by thousands. And many workers are now going without pay as the US government shutdown nears its fourth week.

“A lot of people are looking around, scanning the job environment, scanning the opportunities that are available to them — whether it’s in the public or private sector,” Schloetzer said. “And I think there are question marks over long-term sustainability everywhere.”

Government hiring data has been frozen during the shutdown, but a survey from payroll company ADP earlier this month showed the private sector lost a surprising 32,000 jobs in September.

Here are some companies that have recently cut jobs.

Amazon

Amazon said Tuesday it will cut about 14,000 corporate jobs, about 4% of its workforce, as the online retail giant increases spending on AI while cutting costs elsewhere. A letter to employees said most employees will be given 90 days to search for new positions internally.

CEO Andy Jassy previously said he expected generative AI to reduce Amazon’s corporate workforce in the coming years. And they have worked to aggressively cut costs overall through 2021.

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United Parcel Service has cut about 34,000 jobs since the beginning of the year as part of a turnaround effort amid sweeping changes to the company’s shipping output.

The layoffs, disclosed in a regulatory filing Tuesday, far exceed the roughly 20,000 cuts predicted by UPS earlier this year. On Tuesday, UPS said it had halted daily operations at 93 leased and owned buildings during the first nine months of this year.

Target

Last week, the target was to eliminate about 1,800 corporate positions, or about 8% of its corporate workforce globally.

Target said the cuts were part of broader streamlining efforts – with Chief Operating Officer Michael Fiedelke saying that “too many layers and overlapping work has slowed down decisions.” The retailer is also looking to rebuild its customer base. Target reported flat or comparable sales declines in nine of the last eleven quarters.

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In mid-October, Nestlé said it would cut 16,000 jobs globally as part of broader cost cuts aimed at reviving its financial performance.

The Swiss food giant said the layoffs would take place over the next two years. The cuts come as Nestle and others face headwinds such as rising commodity costs and tariffs imposed by the US. The company announced price increases over the summer to offset the higher costs of coffee and cocoa.

lufthansa group

In September, Lufthansa Group said it would eliminate 4,000 jobs by 2030 – pointing to the growing adoption of artificial intelligence, digitalization and consolidation work among member airlines.

The company said most of the jobs lost would be in Germany and would be focused on administrative rather than operational roles. The layoff plans come as the company reported strong demand for air travel and predicted strong profits in the coming years.

Novo Nordisk

Also in September, Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk said it would cut 9,000 jobs, about 11% of its workforce.

Novo Nordisk – which makes drugs such as Ozempic and Vegovy – said the layoffs were part of a broader restructuring as the company works to sell more obesity and diabetes drugs amid increasing competition.

ConocoPhillips

Oil giant ConocoPhillips has said it plans to lay off up to a quarter of its workforce as part of a company-wide effort to cut costs.

A ConocoPhillips spokesperson confirmed the layoffs on September 3, noting that 20% to 25% of the company’s employees and contractors worldwide would be affected. At the time, ConocoPhillips’ total headcount was about 13,000 – or between 2,600 and 3,250 employees. Most of the cuts were expected to happen before the end of 2025.

intel

Intel has eliminated thousands of jobs – the struggling chip maker is working to revive its business as it lags behind rivals like Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices.

In a memo to employees in July, CEO Lip-Bu Tan said Intel expected to end the year with 75,000 “core” employees leaving subsidiaries and layoffs. This is down from 99,500 core employees reported at the end of last year. The company had previously announced 15% workforce cuts.

Microsoft

In May, Microsoft began laying off approximately 6,000 employees from its workforce. And just a few months later, the tech giant said it would cut 9,000 positions — the largest round of layoffs it has seen in more than two years.

The latest job cuts hit Microsoft’s Xbox video game business and other divisions. The company cited “organizational changes,” with several executives describing the layoffs as part of a move to trim management layers. But labor cuts also come as the company spends heavily on AI.

Procter & Gamble

In June, Procter & Gamble said it would cut 7,000 jobs over the next two years, or 6% of the company’s global workforce.

The maker of Tide detergent and Pampers diapers said the cuts were part of a broader restructuring — also amid tariff pressure. In July, P&G said it would raise prices on about a quarter of its products due to newly imposed import taxes, although it has since said it expects the impact to be smaller than previously expected for the 2026 fiscal year.